


Return

by MyOwnSuperintendent



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Post-Season/Series 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnSuperintendent/pseuds/MyOwnSuperintendent
Summary: On a walk with their daughter, Mulder and Scully meet their son.





	Return

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The X-Files or anything related to it. Hope you enjoy!

Taking the dogs out is a job for more than one person, these days.  Mulder’s usually somewhat reluctant to get involved (“You should have thought of that before you brought them home,” he tells her, which is ridiculous, because she would never leave three puppies in the snow, and besides she had no idea how big they were going to get), but today he agrees to come along.  Susanna comes too, of course.  She always wants to be in charge of Bananas, even though she’s barely taller than he is; she named him and considers him her exclusive property, and Scully has to admit that he seems to listen to her better than to anyone else.  Scully takes Tashtego, and Mulder takes Fedallah, and they set off down the road.  It’s a beautiful June day, but she feels edgy, somehow.  She can’t place why.  It’s a kind of feeling she hasn’t had for a while.

Susanna walks with her hand on Bananas’ back, talking to him about something.  It sounds like she’s making up a story, from the words Scully catches— “And then, Bananas, we’re going to take a trip in a boat.”  She’s always like that, imagining her own worlds and telling them all about them.  Scully and Mulder sometimes worry that it gets lonely for her, with just them and the dogs: no extended family, no neighboring kids, no brothers and sisters, not here not now.  She’ll start preschool in the fall, though.  A normal milestone.  Scully already knows they’re going to cry when they drop their daughter off. 

Susanna stops walking suddenly, cocks her head.  “Come on, Bananas!” she says, and the two of them take off running.  Mulder and Scully exchange looks and pick up their own pace to follow.

“Susanna?” Scully calls after her.  “Where are you going, sweetheart?”  But Susanna doesn’t answer, just keeps running, rounding the corner on her short legs.

When they catch up to her, Bananas is sniffing cautiously at another dog—some kind of retriever, Scully thinks, but her brain is only noting that mechanically, because her eyes are fixed on the dog’s owner, on the young man Susanna is talking to now.  “I knew you were coming,” Susanna says.

“Yeah?” he says.  Scully’s breath catches, because she’s seeing him, hearing him—as William, himself—for the first time since 2002.  She reaches for Mulder’s hand, finds he’s reaching for hers too, and grasps it tight.  “How did you know?”

Susanna gives him her You’re Not Paying Attention To My Complex Thought Process look.  “I just did,” she says.  “Of course.”  William seems to understand that, from the look on his face; Scully tries to do the same.  “My dog’s name is Bananas,” she adds, as if this is clearly the most important part of the conversation.

William nods.  “Good name,” he says.  “Mine is named Gray.”

Susanna nods too.  They seem to nod the same way.  “Can I pet him?”

“Sure,” William says, and while Susanna and Gray are getting acquainted he looks over at the two of them.  “Hi.”

“Hi,” Scully says.  No words are adequate; she’s thought that for a long time now, but the words she has will have to do.  “I’m…I’m really glad to see you.”

“Me too,” Mulder adds from beside her.  “Were you…did you come just to see us or were you nearby or…?”  He trails off.  She presses his hand in hers. 

“Just stopping by,” William says.  “I thought I…well, I thought I’d stop by.” 

“Well, we’re…thank you,” Mulder says.  They all look at each other.  She doesn’t want to ruin this.  She doesn’t know where to begin.

Susanna seems to be the only one who doesn’t feel any tension.  “He’s a good dog,” she tells William politely.  “If you bring him back to the house, he can have a biscuit.”  Scully wonders if they should spend some time talking to her about interacting with strangers.  She wonders if this counts as interacting with strangers.

“You should,” she says.  “Bring him back, I mean.  Stay for a while.”  _As long as you like_ , she thinks.

He looks around again, at Tashtego and Fedallah slobbering and straining at their leashes, at Susanna bouncing from foot to foot with her arm slung over Bananas’ back, at the two of them looking back at him.  “Is there room?” he asks, almost smiling.

“Sure,” Mulder says.  “We’ll make room.”  And they will.


End file.
